Employing in France.

Minimum wage

France's statutory minimum wage (Smic) is EUR 12.31 gross an hour from 1 June 2026, or EUR 1,867.02 a month on 35 hours; under-18s with under six months' experience may receive 10% or 20% less.

EUR 12.31 · from 1 June 2026per hour, gross, employees aged 18 and over (EUR 1,867.02 per month on a 35-hour week)

• 1 January to 31 May 2026: EUR 12.02 an hour, EUR 1,823.03 a month (35-hour week)
• From 1 June 2026: EUR 12.31 an hour, EUR 1,867.02 a month (35-hour week), after an automatic mid-year rise of 2.41%
• Aged 17 to 18 with under six months' experience in the sector: 10% reduction, EUR 11.08 an hour (EUR 1,680.32 a month)
• Under 17 with under six months' experience in the sector: 20% reduction, EUR 9.85 an hour (EUR 1,493.62 a month)
• Mayotte: EUR 9.56 an hour (EUR 1,449.93 a month) from 1 June 2026
• Apprentices and professionalisation contracts have separate reduced rates
• Collective agreements usually set their own minimums; where one is below the Smic, the employer pays a top-up to reach the Smic
• Revalued every 1 January, and automatically during the year when consumer prices rise by at least 2%

Changes on 1 December 2026: The Smic rises by 1.6%, as the government announced on 9 November 2026. The new gross hourly and monthly amounts follow in the decree, not yet published on 11 November 2026. Announced Source: Conférence sociale : hausse du SMIC de 1,6 %

Employer social security contributions

Main 2026 employer rates: health 13%, old age 10.66% (8.55% capped at EUR 4,005 a month), family 5.25%, unemployment 4%, AGIRC-ARRCO pension 6.01%; a general reduction applies below three times the minimum wage.

Health 13%, old age 10.66%, family 5.25%, unemployment 4%, AGIRC-ARRCO 6.01% (up to ceiling), plus smaller levies; ceiling EUR 4,005 a month · from 1 January 2026percent of gross pay, employer share, private sector, 2026

• Health, maternity, invalidity, death: 13% (the reduced 7% rate now applies only to employers with specific zoned or overseas exemptions and some special regimes)
• Old age (basic state pension): 8.55% up to the ceiling plus 2.11% on total pay (uncapped rate up from 2.02% on 1 January 2026)
• Family allowances: 5.25% (reduced 3.45% rate kept only for the same limited cases)
• Solidarity contribution for autonomy (CSA): 0.30%
• Unemployment insurance: 4.00% up to EUR 192,240 in 2026; AGS wage-guarantee levy 0.25% on the same base
• FNAL housing levy: 0.10% up to the ceiling (under 50 employees) or 0.50% on total pay (50 or more)
• Social dialogue contribution 0.016%; work accidents (AT/MP) at a rate notified by the Carsat; training levy 0.55% (under 11 employees) or 1%; apprenticeship tax 0.59% plus 0.09%; mobility levy (11 or more employees) set locally
• AGIRC-ARRCO complementary pension, employer share: 4.72% up to the ceiling and 12.95% from one to eight ceilings, plus CEG 1.29% / 1.62% and CET 0.21% where pay exceeds the ceiling
• Social security ceiling (PASS) 2026: EUR 48,060 a year, EUR 4,005 a month
• General degressive reduction (RGDU) 2026: on pay under 3 Smic (Smic at 1 January 2026), maximum coefficient 0.3981 (under 50 employees) or 0.4021 (50 or more)

Our sum of the published rates: old age 10.66% is 8.55% on pay up to the social security ceiling plus 2.11% on total pay.

Changes on 1 January 2027: Social security ceiling EUR 4,075 a month (EUR 48,900 a year). The 2027 contribution rates are not yet published. Announced Source: Plafond annuel de la Sécurité sociale, une augmentation prévue pour 2027

Payroll tax withholding and filing

Employers withhold income tax at the rate the DGFiP tax authority sends and declare it with social contributions in the monthly DSN on net-entreprises.fr, due by the 5th or 15th of the following month.

Employer, monthly via the DSN, by the 5th or 15th of the following month · from 1 January 2019income tax withholding (prélèvement à la source) and social contributions in one monthly return

• 5th of the following month: employers with 50 or more employees who pay within the month worked
• 15th of the following month: employers with fewer than 50 employees, and larger employers who pay in the month after the period worked
• A deadline falling on a public holiday or non-working day moves to the next working day
• Withheld tax is collected by SEPA B2B direct debit from the bank account registered in the employer's professional space on impots.gouv.fr
• Tax authority: Direction générale des Finances publiques (impots.gouv.fr); social contributions: Urssaf (urssaf.fr); filing portal: net-entreprises.fr
• Collectors that pay no French social contributions (for example for posted workers) file the PASRAU return instead, due on the 10th of the following month

Salary payments a year and holiday allowance

Salary is paid monthly, 12 times a year; there is no statutory 13th month or holiday bonus, but such payments become mandatory where a contract, collective agreement, company custom or employer undertaking provides for them.

12 monthly payments; no statutory 13th monthsalary payments per year

• Labour Code L3242-1: pay is monthly and paid once a month; an employee may ask for a mid-month advance of half the monthly pay
• 13th-month, end-of-year and holiday bonuses are mandatory only if an employment contract, collective agreement, custom (usage) or unilateral employer undertaking provides for them
• Monthly pay does not apply to home workers, seasonal, intermittent and temporary employees

Paid annual leave

Employees earn 2.5 working days of paid leave per month worked, up to 30 working days (five weeks) a year, counted on a six-day week; full-time and part-time staff have the same entitlement.

30 working days (5 weeks)per year, in jours ouvrables (six-day week: every day except the weekly rest day and public holidays)

• 2.5 jours ouvrables per month of actual work with the same employer, capped at 30 jours ouvrables
• Jours ouvrables: all days except the weekly rest day (usually Sunday) and public holidays not normally worked
• The employer may count in jours ouvrés (five-day week) if the result is at least equal
• During non-work-related sick leave, leave accrues at 2 days a month (24 a year)
• Reference period 1 June to 31 May unless a collective agreement sets another

Sick pay

Health insurance (CPAM) pays 50% of basic daily pay from the fourth day; after one year's service the employer tops up to 90% for 30 days, then two-thirds for 30 days, from the eighth day.

Health insurance 50% from day 4 (up to 360 days in 3 years); employer top-up to 90% then two-thirds, after 1 year's servicestatutory sick pay, non-work-related illness

• Daily allowance (IJ): 50% of basic daily wage (average gross pay of the last 3 months), pay counted up to 1.4 times the monthly Smic; maximum EUR 42.97 gross a day for stoppages from July 2026
• Three waiting days at the start of each stoppage; IJ due from the fourth day
• Up to 360 days of IJ over 3 years; up to 3 years for a long-term illness (ALD)
• Employer complement (Labour Code L1226-1, D1226-1 to D1226-5) after one year's service: 90% of gross pay for the first 30 days, then two-thirds for 30 days, minus the IJ received
• Each period lengthens by 10 days per full five years of service beyond the first year, to a maximum of 90 days each
• Employer complement starts after 7 days' absence (from day one for work accidents and occupational disease)
• Collective agreements often provide more, including pay during waiting days

Running payroll without a local entity

A foreign employer without a French establishment gets a SIRET number via the Guichet unique, then declares and pays contributions through Urssaf's Foreign Firms Service and withholds income tax via the monthly DSN.

Possible: Urssaf Service Firmes Etrangeres for contributions; SIRET and DGFiP (SIEE) registration for income tax withholdingregistration for a foreign employer with no establishment in France

• Social security: file the creation declaration on the INPI Guichet unique and the pre-hire declaration (DPAE); a SIRET number follows and Urssaf Service Firmes Etrangeres opens the employer account
• Contributions are then declared and paid monthly by DSN on net-entreprises.fr or through the free Titre Firmes Etrangeres (TFE) service
• Income tax: the employer needs a SIRET, a professional space on impots.gouv.fr and a SEPA bank account with a signed B2B mandate; the competent office is the Service des Impôts des Entreprises Etrangères (SIEE) of the Direction des Impôts des Non-Résidents
• A fiscal representative in France is required unless the employer is established in the EU or a listed country with assistance conventions (the list includes the United Kingdom, Norway, Japan and India, not the United States)
• Collectors paying no French social contributions file PASRAU instead of the DSN
• Since 2023, employers in the EU and assistance-convention countries whose French-resident employees stay under a foreign social security scheme and work in France only occasionally do not withhold; the employee pays instalments
• Workers posted from the EU or Switzerland: Urssaf Mobilité internationale decides the applicable legislation

Pension

Employers fund the basic state pension through old-age contributions collected by Urssaf, and every private-sector employer must join the mandatory AGIRC-ARRCO complementary scheme, with membership automatic on the first DSN return.

State basic pension via Urssaf contributions plus mandatory AGIRC-ARRCO complementary scheme · from 1 January 2026mandatory pension schemes, private-sector employees

• Basic pension (assurance vieillesse): employer 8.55% up to the ceiling plus 2.11% on total pay; employee 6.90% plus 0.40%
• AGIRC-ARRCO 2026, up to the ceiling (tranche 1): 7.87% (employer 4.72%, employee 3.15%); from one to eight ceilings (tranche 2): 21.59% (employer 12.95%, employee 8.64%)
• AGIRC-ARRCO balancing contributions: CEG 2.15% on tranche 1 (employer 1.29%) and 2.70% on tranche 2 (employer 1.62%); CET 0.35% (employer 0.21%) where pay exceeds the ceiling
• Membership is automatic with the first DSN; the fund depends on the collective agreement (IDCC) or the head-office department

Probation and notice

Permanent-contract trial periods run up to two, three or four months by job category, renewable once if an extended branch agreement allows; dismissal notice is one month after six months' service, two after two years.

Probation max 2 / 3 / 4 months by category (renewable once, total 4 / 6 / 8); dismissal notice 1 month (6 months to 2 years' service), 2 months (2 years or more)permanent contracts (CDI)

• Maximum trial period: 2 months for workers and employees, 3 months for supervisors and technicians, 4 months for managers (cadres)
• One renewal only if an extended branch agreement provides for it; total maximum 4, 6 and 8 months
• Dismissal notice (except gross misconduct): under 6 months' service set by law, collective agreement or local custom; 6 months to under 2 years: 1 month; 2 years or more: 2 months
• A more favourable notice or seniority rule in law, agreement, contract or custom prevails
• Resignation notice is set by law, collective agreement or, failing that, local and professional custom